Tire-rim contractor



V. WINQUIST.

TIRE RIM CONTRACTOR.

APPUCATION FILED SEPT- 4. 1917.

Patented June 14, 1921.

ll q in mil/721111111] UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR WINQUIST, 0F ROCKFORD,

NOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ILLINOIS, I R, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS. or TWO-THIRDS T0 BURD HIGHCOMPRESSION RING co MPANY, OF ROCKFORD, ILLI- TIRE-RIM CON TRACTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1a,

Application filed September 4, 1917. Serial No. 189,640.

To all 10-71021]. it may ooacem:

e it known that I, VICTOR WIN UIST, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rockford. in the county of innebago and State of Illinois.have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tire-RimContractors, of which the following is a spec1- flcation.

This invention pertains to the art of the rim contractors which areemployed for the purpose of contracting demountable split tirerims sothat pneumatic tires can be readily removed from and replaced on therims.

One of the salient features of this invention resides in the provisionof a pair of members, each adapted to be securely attached to therespective ends of a split tire rim by novel attaching means capableofadjustment to rims of various widths. and also in the provision of asimple and highly efficient connection between these two members bymanipulation of which relative movement will be imparted to the membersto first break the rim lock and then draw the rim ends into overlappedrelation and automatically lock them in this position to facilitateremoval and replacement of the tire. The same mechanism when operated inthe reverse direction is adapted to restore the rim ends to normalexpanded position in which they are locked when in use.

Another feature of my invention resides in the extreme simplicity of thedevice and in the fact that it is cheap to manufacture and is small insize, so that it takes up but little room in a tool box.

Other advantageous featuries of my invention will be readily appreciatedas the same is better understood from the following description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings.-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one embodia ment of my invention shownas applied to a rim prior to the contraction of the rim;

Fig. 2 is a similar view partially in section, showing the position ofthe parts when the rim ends have been moved into overlapped relation; 9

Fig. 3 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1, but showing a completerim; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Qn the drawings reference character 5 indicates generally a splitdemonntable the r m, the one chosen for purposes of illustration beingcommercially known as the Kelsey rnn; having a straight transversesplit. and one end being provided with a locking member 6 shaped asshown in Fig. 2 and adapted to be seated in a slot 7 formed in theopposlte end of the rim. a latch 8 pivoted being adapted to be swungpartially over the slot so as to overlie the end of the locking member 6withdrawal from the slot. It will be appreciated, however. that myinvention is equally capable of application to other types of rims.

The contractor mbodying my invention comprises two members, 9 and 11respect 'ely, each adapted to be connected to a respective end of therim 5. The member 11..for instance. is shaped to provide a jaw 12adaptedto hook over one of the flanges of a rim and at its other side there isprovided an adjustable jaw 13 shaped to hook over the other flange ofthe rim. The jaw 13 which, as is evident from Fig. 4. is'ho ol:- shapedat its upper end and threaded at its lower end, extends through a slot14 formed In the body of the member 11 so that this jaw can be movedlaterally to accommodate rims of various widths. A thumb nut 15 threadedupon the lower end of the jaw is adapted to clamp the jaw firmly downupon the rim flange. A rigidclamping of both the jaws 12 and 13 when thethumb nut 15 is tightened up is secured by the provision of a fulcrumpoint or abutment 16 which is formed integrally with the body of themember 11 between the jaws 12 and 13 in position to engage the innerface of the tire-rim. It will be manifest that when the jaw 12 is hookedover one flange of the rim and the jaw 13 over th other the tighteningof the thumb nut 15 will cause both jaws to simultaneously and firmlygrip the edges of the rim flange so that the rim is securely gripped bythe two jaws and the fulcrum point 16 and slippage of the memberlongitudinally of the rim is thereby precluded.

The other member? is similarly provided with a rigid jaw 17 and anadjustable jaw 18. and likewise has a fulcrum bearing intermediate thejaws. this hearing in the contractors designed for the particular rimshown consisting preferably of three points of contact, 19, 21 and 22respectively, the point 22 underlying the extending portion of therim-locking member 6, the points 19 and 21 engaging the inner face ofthe rim. It

will be noted from Fig. 2 that a depression 23 is formedbetween thepoints 21 and 22 and that the bearing portion 21 is longer than thebearing point 22, approximately the thickness ofthe locking member 6, sothat the projection 21 provides an abutment adapted to en go the end ofthe locking member, there providing additional se curity against'sippage of the clamp longi tudinally of the run.

to straddle the extension of the member 9- and is provided near itslower end with bear ing openings in which a pinion 26 is rotat ablymounted. A cotter pm 27. or other pre-- ferred means retains the pinionin its bearpinion shaft is made square or hexagonal in shape, asindicated at 29, to. fit the wrench which iscustomarily used to removethe nuts which clamp a demountable rim to the felly of the auto wheel.

When the device is to be used it is securely attached to the rim in theposition shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the member 9 being first securelyclamped to one end of the rim with the abutment 21 disposed against theend of the locking member 6, as previously described, and the member 11securely clamped to-the other end of the rim as shown. The wrench is nowapplied to the pinion spindle and turned in a clockwise direction. Theengagement of the pinion with the rack teeth first causes the members 9and 11 to move in opposite directions radially of ths rim so as towithdraw the locking member from the slot 7. The radially depressedportion of.

the slot 24 in the member 9 is of suificient length to insure removal ofthe locking memv ber 6 from' the slot, and after the pinion hasreached'the top of the slot it travels circumferentially of the rimalong the rack teeth so as to bring, the rim ends into the overlappedposition shown-in Fig. 2, thereby reducing the diameter of, the rimso,that the tire can. be readily removed and re-- placed- When the pinionreaches the end of the'slot, as shown in Fig. 2, the direction of thestresses imposed by the rim u on the two members 9 and 11 is such that te pinion is forced downwardly againstthe lower end wall of the slotwhich precludes any tendency to reverse rotation of the pinion, and therim ends are consequently autom is removed from the rim.

matically locked in overlapped relation. The tire may now be removed andreplaced while the contractor holds the rim ends in the position shownin Fig. 2, whereupon the wrench is again applied to the spindle and thepinion is rotated in the reverse direction. This action returns the rimends to normal position and forces the locking memher 6 back into theslot 7 so that the. latch 8 may be returned into lockin position tosecurely hold the rim ends be ore the contrac- It will be evident fromthe foregoing that I. have provided a rim contractor which is compact inform, so that it takes up but little room, is extremely cheap tomanufacture, since most of the parts may becast, and is easy to attachto a rim and manipulate and again detach therefrom. While I have shownand-described a preferred embodi-. ment of my invention itshould beunder-,

stood that the size, shape, proportion and arran ement of the variouspartscan be varied? considerably without departing from 'the'essen'ce ofmy invention as set forth in ings and, preferably,-a washer 28 isinter-' posed between the pin and-the adjacent face of the member 11. .The opposite end of the pair of members adapted to be engagedrespectively with the opposed ends of a split tire-rim; a rotatablepinion carried by one ofsaid members, and a rack on the other membercoiiperable' withsaid pinion and shaped so that upon rotation of thelatter a relative movement between said members will be effected firstradially of the rim and then circumferentially thereof to dispose therim ends in overlapped position.

2. A tire-rim contractor comprising a pair of members adapted to beengaged with the opposed ends respectively of a split rim, and arotatable,- pinion carried by one of said 'menihe'rs, the other memberbeing shaped to provide a radially and. circumferentially'extending rackfor engagement by said pinion so'that upon rotation of the latter themembers will be moved relatively to each other to dispose the rim endsin overlapped position.

3. A tire-rim contractor comprising a pair of members adapted to beconnected 2 respectively withthe ends of a split rim, 1

one of'said members being provi ed with mm, and means comprising acurved rack ,pini'on and the other being a slot having rack teeththerein, a pinion rotatabl engagea le With said rack teeth, said rackandpinion being shaped to contract the tire rim when the pinion isrevolved and to automatically lock the rim ends in overlapped relation.

5. A tire-rim contractor pair of members adapted to respectivelycomprising a be connected with the ends of a split the and a pinionmounted respectively upon said members and relatively arranged ed thatthe travel of the pinion will be in a radial and circumferentialdirection for overlapping the rimends and returning them to normallocked position upon rotation of said pinion in opposite directions.

6. A tire-rim contractor comprising a pair of members adapted'to beconnected with the ends of a tire-rim, one of said members beingprovided with a rotatable provided with a curved slot equipped with rackteeth and said pinion being disposed in said slot and in engagement withsaid teeth so as to imrelative movement to the rim ends upon rotation ofsaid pinion.

carried by the other member and the other member being constructed toprovide arms disposed on both sides of said portion, and means mountedupon said arms and cooperating intermediate the same with said way so asto be guided thereby in a radial and circumferential direction for.movingthe rim ends into overlapped rela tion- [8.1K tire-rimcontractor, pair of members adapted to with the ends of a tire rim,

comprising a one of said members being equipped with a rotatable deviceand the other being a surface upon which said rotatable device providedwith is operable, said rotatable device and surface being shaped so thatrotation of the device will produce from cooperation thereof with saidsurface, relative movement of said members in a radialandcircumferentialdirection to thereby position the rim ends in overlappedrelation.

VICTOR \VINQUIST.

be connected

